Instant Pot Beef and Barley Soup

This Instant Pot Beef and Barley Soup is a quick way to enjoy this hearty and flavorful soup. It’s full of tender meat and vegetables, and it’s perfectly satisfying for these cold winter months. Made by our very own Melissa Preece PT, DPT! Enjoy.
Melissa Preece's dog Zuko staring down her soup.

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Total time: 40 mins

Servings: 8

Calories: 334 kcal

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds (1kg) beef stew meat
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 8 ounces (225g) mushrooms, quartered
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 2 carrots, diced
• 4-6 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 cups (1.4 liters) low sodium beef broth/stock
• 1 (14.5oz) (411g) can diced tomatoes
• ¾ cup (140g) pearl barley, rinsed
• 2 small potatoes, peeled and diced
• 2 tablespoons better than bullion beef base (or use 2-4 cubes)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme

Instructions:

• Set Instant Pot to saute setting. When hot, add in stew meat, olive oil, and season with a little salt and pepper. Brown meat on all sides then remove and set aside. (About 5 minutes).
  
  
• Add mushrooms and saute until nicely browned. (May need to add a little more oil). Add onion, celery, and carrot. Season with salt and pepper if desired, and cook for about 5 minutes. Add in garlic and stir for 30 seconds.

• Add a little beef broth to deglaze the bottom of the pan and be sure to scrape up all the browned bits to avoid the burn error. Add remaining broth, browned meat, tomatoes, barley, potatoes, beef base, bay leaf, and thyme. (To make it healthier, I added less barley and no potatoes.) 

• Place lid on Instant Pot and turn to the locking position. Set vent to sealing and cook on high pressure for 15 minutes. Let the Instant Pot do a natural release of pressure for 15 minutes, then turn the vent to release the remaining pressure before removing the lid.
  
  
• Enjoy this hearty soup! :)